Pilibhit plants!

An incredible amount of 127 students from 13 schools attended the Academy in Springfield Public School, Pilibhit, India.

The Academy was made possible with the dedicative commitment of the Plant-for-the-Planet Foundation, Springfield Public School and members of YCSG and TGIC eco club. The event was free of charge for all the attending children, who were aged 09-14.

Special thanks goes to Plant-for-the-Planet academy-staff Adelya for helping us throughout the Academy. We would also like to thank Miss Urmila Joshi, Mr. Narendra Rautela and Mr. Kushal Bansal for helping us contact all schools and for providing us venue and other basic facilities for the Academy. Not to be forgotten are the many helpers and supporters, without whom the implementation of the Academy wouldn’t have been possible.

After all children were welcomed their full attention turned to the presentation "Now we children save the world!" given by Plant-for-the-Planet Coordinator, Dharmendra Kapri.  The presentation included topics like: an introduction of Plant-for-the-Planet, sources of CO2, greenhouse effect, global warming, photosynthesis, climate change, climate crisis and climate justice. After the presentation the kids had the opportunity to get their questions answered.

After a short break, they were divided into 8 groups to learn about global distribution and justice in the World Game. The children distributed playing figures, candy and balloons on world maps laid out on the floor respectively of the world’s population, wealth and CO2 emissions.  Each group had one Moderator from our Academy team to help them understand the rules and the process. The children were first asked to distribute the balloons, candy and tokens as per as their knowledge. Later on they were corrected by the moderator wherever needed.

After this game the kids formed 6 public speaking groups in which they prepared and presented short passages from the opening presentation that they had seen at the start of the day. They gave each other tips on how to improve their presentations in the future and a short session on how to give a good presentation was conducted by Miss Priyanka Chand and Mr. Harshdev Punera

Then everyone broke for lunch and the kids were able to relax a little and to discuss the topics covered so far with each other. 

After lunch was over, the afternoon kicked off with short introductive videos on how Plant-for-the-Planet plants trees in Mexico as the children were very eager to learn more about Plant-for-the-Planet and on how we plant trees all over the world.

Rested, and feeling energized, the children relocated to the schoolyard to plant their own trees! Before the planting commenced, the children listened intently to the advice of the Eco club member in charge Mr. Ashutosh Joshi. He explained how and when to plant trees, and also showed the children how to care for their trees to make sure they survive. In total they planted 15 trees in just 45 minutes.

After a short break it was back to the program. The children started the "World Café" module in which they worked on the following questions in four stations: "How do we ensure that the media reports about us?", "How do we motivate the adults?", "How do we motivate friends and classmates?" and "How do we organize a planting party?"

After everyone had the opportunity to write down their thoughts to each question, the future Ambassadors were asked to present their thoughts and future plans in front of other students and teachers.

After the World Café everyone was asked to present shortened versions of morning presentations, their future plans and outcomes of the school groups and group discussions.

After a long, inspiring, and enjoyable day, all 127 participants received their certificates from Miss Priyanka Chand, which recognized them as a Climate Justice Ambassador.  An interesting day had come to an end. Apart from the experience and newly found knowledge, all new Ambassadors took copy of the Tree-by-Tree book and of course the Plant-for-the-Planet T-shirt with them.

The organizing team of this Plant-for-the-Planet Academy in Pilibhit, India would like to thank all those involved for their help and support to make this day possible.

All pictures taken that day can be downloaded here.

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